WHY WAS THE WHITE COLORED GERMAN SHEPHERD DOG DISQUALIFIED?
That is a question that only the German SV and the German Shepherd Dog Club of America can truly answer. The SV was the first to attempt to eliminate white dogs from the gene pool through the dissavowment of the color around 1960. It was not always that way. In its early days, the SV registered white German Shepherd Dogs right along with all other colors. A dog named Berno von Seewiese, born in 1913 was one of the first whites to be registered with the SV. He represented a direct line down from Horand von Grafrath through Horand’s equally famous, (and some would say, better) son Hektor von Schwaben. For his part, Von Stephanitz had little interest in or use for a “beautiful” dog. This view often put him at odds with fellow breeders of his day. His focus was always geared toward agility, functionality, intelligence and usefulness. In his book, he stated: “The coloring of the dog has no significance whatsoever for service.” Clearly, the founder of the GSD breed had no preference for one
